The Riverview Hotel Dining Room

If the locals had their way, 'The Riv' would remain their little secret. But given the genuinely warm greeting as you reach the first floor of this 1880s hotel, it's obvious all are welcome to the table here. Olive green walls surround naked, dark-brown tabletops in a room of private little nooks where waiters proudly serve up chef Brad Sloane's modern take on European cooking. Generous slivers of wagyu carpaccio combine with the creaminess of soft-boiled quail eggs and the crunch of fried potato wisps, while delicately poached portions of barramundi, prawns and mussels wade in a rustic bouillabaisse. Sloane's slow-roasted caramelised lamb rump is a showstopper - accompanied by a sweet and smoky eggplant caponata - and worth the price of admission on its own. There's only one way to go after such a culinary courtship: straight for a homely plum cobbler, its tartness balanced by a good dollop of clotted cream.